Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Note: New content has been inserted in red, italicized, bold font.
Overview
Political: US Army Gen. Ray Odierno confirmed on Tuesday (June-2) that US combat forces will be vacating all Iraqi towns and cities by June 30, including Mosul, which is considered the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda. Due to continual attacks by al-Qaeda and insurgent groups, some US and Iraqi officials recommended that the withdrawal be delayed, however, Odierno performed a joint assessment and finalized the decision. About 50,000 troops will remain in the country to train and advise only until the 2011 deadline agreed in the bilateral security agreement. Odierno believes defeating the Mosul insurgency will depend on the new provincial government taking quick action to provide basic services. Reuters quoted him as saying, “This is not about winning a war. It’s about creating an environment where the Iraqi government can be… serving its people… this is about the long-term development of a nation.” Two major threats were emphasized by Odierno: tension between Kurds and Arabs over control of land and oil and Iran’s support for Shi’ite militias in the south. (Reuters, June-2)
UN: According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday (May-5), the UN announced it had changed its guidelines for asylum seekers since the security situation in central and southern Iraq has improved. The UN refugee agency said instead of recommending the automatic granting of refugee status for people from central and southern Iraq, those asylum seekers will be individually assessed. Also, the UN said that if a country was overwhelmed by the refugee influx and was unable to conduct individual checks, it should grant asylum seekers the benefit of the doubt and grant them safety. (DPA, May-5)
Refugees/Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Iraq remains too fragile for the estimated 1.5 million Iraqis living outside its borders to return home. Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UNHCR, said “while overall security conditions are improving, they are not sustainable enough to have encouraged massive returns of Iraqis.” Of the returns that have already taken place, many of them have not been safe or sustainable. Forcing the repatriation of refugees would also put individuals at risk. Over 1.5 million Iraqis still live outside the country, mostly in Syria and Jordan, while another 2 million are internally displaced. (UNHCR, June-2)
Due to persistent violence, very few IDPs have returned as displaced Iraqis remain wary of renewed sectarian violence. Since the end of 2008, only 195,000 IDPs have returned to their homes, the UN reported. Officials hope the number will reach 400,000 by the end of the year if the security situation improves. Ahead of a full US troop withdrawal in 2012 and national polls set for later this year, many fear security will worsen as US combat troops withdraw out of Iraqi cities in June. (Reuters, May-12)
Civil Society/Rule of Law: The number of deaths in Iraq since March 2003 is estimated by Iraq Body Count (IBC) as between 92,130 and 100,588 for civilians and 4,622 for coalition forces, including 4,304 US troops. While 4,900-6,375 Iraqi military personnel are estimated to have died during the 2003 war, reliable figures are unavailable for the new Iraqi security forces established in late 2003. (Reuters, May-31)
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the civilian casualty count dramatically decreased in May to its lowest number, according to Iraq’s Health Ministry figures that were released on Sunday (May-31). May’s death toll was 134, which is slightly below the previously record low tallied in January. (Reuters, May-31) However, the month of May also saw the number of US military deaths sharply increase. With 24 US soldiers killed, bringing the overall death toll to at least 4,306 since March 2003, May had the most deaths of any month since September 2008, the BBC reported. (BBC, June-1)
Humanitarian Situation and Access: Thanks to the efforts of the US Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division, three new schools opened in the northern region of Iraq recently and will provide new classroom space for nearly 2,500 children. In Erbil province, the Bin Beriz School and new Hassarok School were built where funding went towards constructing things such as extra classrooms, administrative buildings, a generator facility and other school furnishings. In Sulaymaniyah province, the 12-room Saraway Khwarw Secondary School was built to accommodate more than 960 students. Funding for all three school projects was provided by the US government’s Economic Support Fund. (USACE, May-20)
Despite Iraq’s improving security situation, the country remains in a fragile transition stage with at least 1.6 million Iraqis displaced inside the country, while hundreds of thousands are living in difficult conditions in neighboring countries. Recognizing the country’s humanitarian need, the European Commission has allocated US$27 million (20 million Euros) to address the needs of refugees, internally displaced people and other vulnerable populations affected by the conflict in Iraq, and to support coordination of the humanitarian response. The funding will provide food, water and sanitation, basic healthcare, psychosocial support and help for people on the move or returning home. (ECHO, May-15)
Economy/Oil: Iraqi crude oil production averaged 2.41 million barrels per day (MBPD) as of May 27, which is a decrease of 0.01 from the previous week. (USDOS, May-27) Iraqi crude oil exports averaged 1.88 MBPD as of May 27, which is a decrease of 0.05 from the previous week. (USDOS, May-27)
BBC news reported on Monday (June-1) that Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region had begun, for the first time, exporting crude oil to foreign markets. The Kurdistan Regional Government will pump up to 90,000-100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to selected companies from two northern oilfields to Turkey. From Iraq’s northern Taq Taq field, oil will be transported by lorry to Erbil province at a rate of 40,000 bpd and then pumped along to the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The decision by the Iraqi government to allow its pipeline to be used comes after a deal that could start to mend internal disputes over Iraq oil wealth. The Kurds, Baghdad and oil companies will share the revenue. At a ceremony held in Erbil, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani was quoted as saying, “We are proud of this success, and this achievement will serve the interests of all Iraqis, especially the Kurds.” (BBC, June-1)
To cover its budget deficit, the Iraqi government is seeking to secure a US$7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iraqi Finance Minister Baquer Jabr Solagh said on May 25. Additionally, Iraq is trying to encourage creditor countries to forgive some of its debts in exchange for “a more open-door” approach to investments. (USDOS, May-27)
Water/Power: The daily supply from the grid from May 17 – May 23 was 47 percent higher than the same time frame in 2008 and met 67 percent of estimated demand, compared with 50 percent during the same time frame a year earlier. (USDOS, May-27)
During Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy’s visit to Baghdad, both oil ministers signed an agreement on May 20 to bolster cooperation between the two countries in energy exploration. According to the deal, Egyptian oil companies will participate in oilfield exploration, developing fields and building refineries in Iraq, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said. (AP, May-20)
According to a top Iraqi lawmaker on Saturday (May-23), Turkey increased the flow of the Euphrates River passing through its dams upstream of Iraq to help farmers cope with a severe drought. Despite Turkey’s aid, there is still not enough water. Iraq has accused Turkey, and to a lesser extent Syria, of choking the Euphrates by placing hydroelectric dams on it that have restricted water flow to Iraq and caused a dispute between the two countries as Iraq seeks to improve bilateral ties with its neighboring countries. Oun Thiab Abdullah, Iraq’s director of water resources, said last week that the country faced catastrophic results this summer unless Turkey tripled the Euphrates water flow. Already the drought has damaged crops and created severe water shortages. Prior to Turkey’s aid, the flow of water to Iraq was 230 cubic meters per second, but Iraq wants Turkey to let 700 cubic meters per second out, which is almost double of what now flows through even after the increase. Last week, the Iraqi parliament voted to force the government to demand a greater share of water resources from neighbors upstream of its vital rivers and agreed to block anything signed with nations not including a clause granting Iraq a fairer share of river water. (Reuters, May-23)
Food: On Thursday and Friday (May 16-17), Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani appeared before parliament to acknowledge there had been some cases of corruption in his ministry and admitted, “some food items were bad.” His brother and another official were arrested, while seven other officials remain at large. According to a new survey by the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation of 120,000 families, which had qualified for state food handouts in 15 Iraqi provinces, 18 percent of families did not receive their nine-item food ration for 13 months; 31.5 percent for 7-12 months; 14.5 percent for 4-6 months; 22 percent for 2-3 months and 14.5 percent for one month. In addition, the survey raised concerns about the quality of food items. Surveyed families revealed that items such as tea, rice, flour and sugar had been received in bad quality. Sheikh Sabah al-Saidi, chairman of the parliament’s Integrity Committee said corruption in the Trade Ministry has been running high, mainly over imported food items unfit for human consumption. He added that billions of dollars have been wasted in the ministry. (IRIN, May-19)
Health/Medical: Six years of conflict have left Iraq’s health system struggling to rebuild after thousands of doctors fled for safety, leaving hospitals without medicine and equipment. Particularly, the mentally ill have been greatly impacted by war. Al-Rashad, Iraq’s only mental institution located on the edge of Sadr City, one of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighborhoods, treats approximately 1,200 patients with only seven doctors. Most patients at the institution suffer from chronic schizophrenia and although doctors say many could live at home, the stigma and violence has kept patients hospitalized. According to Iraqi psychiatrists, the war has significantly affected mental health of the entire nation, causing an increase in mental disorders across the country. Predicting that the demand for psychiatric treatment will rise as the country comes to terms with what has occurred in the last six years, Dr. Emad Abdulrazoy, national adviser for mental health at the Ministry of Health, will be responsible for establishing a new program that will aim to create psychiatric care centers in hospitals across Iraq. (BBC, May-21)
No cases of the H1N1 flu outbreak, commonly known as swine flu, have been reported in the Middle East, though the region has been adopting various preventative measures. Iraqi authorities have set aside US$30 million to combat a possible outbreak, while medical checks for all visitors at airports and border crossings have been increased. Nationwide, workshops and courses are being conducted for relevant ministry employees on how to monitor and report the disease. The northern Kurdistan region has warned people not to travel to South America, Mexico or the US. Additionally, there has been a nationwide ban on hunting wild pigs, while the Iraqi government ordered three wild boars in the Baghdad Zoo to be culled on Saturday (May-2) as a precautionary measure. (Reuters, May-6)
In-Country Humanitarian Assistance Information by Region
North Region
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Erbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah |
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Coordination |
US forces handed responsibility for security in Iraq’s three northern provinces of Erbil, Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah to the Kurdish regional government in May of 2007. |
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Population |
Population of Erbil: 1,392,093 Population of Sulaymaniyah: 1,715,585 Population of Dahuk: 954,087 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by province/governorate
(IASC, Kurdistan Regional Government, June 2008)
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
No New Information |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
In Dahuk province, the Gulf Region Division, US Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq developed a new 12-room US$1.1 million Shindokha School, and 600 middle and high school students will benefit from this bigger and better school. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed to mark the opening of the new school that will significantly reduce an overcrowding problem. The school’s entire curriculum is taught in English, and prospective teachers will undergo four months of intensive language training. (AFPS, Mar-30) |
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Water & Sanitation |
No New Information |
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Security |
On Thursday (May-28), Turkish jets attacked a Kurdish guerilla group in northern Iraq, a day after a mine blast killed six Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in the mainly Kurdish southeast. (Reuters, May-28) |
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Other/Comments |
No New Information |
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At Tamim, Ninawa, Salah ad Din |
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Coordination |
Five NGOs closed their offices in Mosul (in Ninawa) because of increased violence against aid workers: Mosul Human Rights Association, Supporting Children With Cancer, Ruweida Aid Agency, and two preferring to remain unnamed. The past six months have especially affected relief agencies’ work, according to the Association for NGOs in Northern Iraq. Armed groups pose the largest threat to aid agencies. But an Iraqi Voices of Freedom volunteer said another problem is aid workers being detained by police after returning from displacement areas with suspected insurgents. (IRIN, Sept-24) |
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Population |
Population of Mosul: 2,811,091 Population of Kirkuk: 902,019 Population of Tikrit: 1,191,403 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Province/Governorate
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, June 2008) Of 10,337 displaced families surveyed in At Tamim, Salah ad Din and Diyala provinces, over 92 percent said they had not received any humanitarian aid. (Mercy Corps, Oct-31)
Returns are increasing and displacement is low three years after the bombing of a revered Shia shrine in Samarra that sparked nationwide sectarian violence, causing major displacement. Since February 2006, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 1.6 million Iraqis (about 270,000 families) have been displaced and out of those, at least 49,000 families (almost 300,000 individuals) have returned home. IDPs still face the hardships of a lack of jobs, food shortages, unemployment and a lack of basic services. However, Rafiq Tschannen, chief of mission in Iraq for the IOM, said “the fact that people are returning home, although in smaller than expected numbers, is a positive development which we hope will gather pace.” (IRIN, Feb-22) |
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
No New Information |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
In Salah ad Din province, the As Sharqat Bridge was opened and is expected to greatly improve travel times in the area, in addition to increasing freedom of movement in the north. The Iraqi Army, police and the Sons of Iraq (SOI) will be coordinating security and traffic. (USDOS, Apr-29) |
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Water & Sanitation |
In a combined multi-agency effort by the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Kirkuk, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Kirkuk provincial government and the US Agency for International Development, the first environmentally engineered and constructed landfill was built in Kirkuk recently. It is the first of its kind in the country and was made as a way to properly dispose of waste and refuse. The landfill meets US and European standards and will teach the Iraqis proper waste management techniques, providing additional jobs to local residents. (USDOS, Mar-11) |
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Security |
In At-Tamim province, police discovered the body of a man killed a few days before in northern Kirkuk, 155 miles (250 km) north of Baghdad, on Thursday (May-28). The same day, a joint Iraqi army and US military forces operation ended in the detention of 20 suspected insurgents in southwestern Kirkuk. A suspected local leader of the al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Sunna in the cities of Kirkuk in At-Tamim province and Tikrit in Salah ad Din province was arrested during a military operation on Sunday (May-31). Forty-four suspects were detained on Sunday during a joint American-Iraqi operation in Kirkuk.
In Ninawa province on Thursday: a female member of Mosul’s provincial council, her driver and three civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb in northern Mosul, 240 miles (390 km) north of Baghdad. A woman and her daughter were shot and killed by gunmen after they stormed into their home in eastern Mosul. In northern Mosul, gunmen shot and killed another woman. In the city of Telkeif, located north of Mosul, police discovered the body of a man who had been dead for at least a few days. On Friday (May-29): a US soldier was killed and one civilian was wounded when a grenade exploded near a patrol in western Mosul. On Saturday (May-30): three civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb in eastern Mosul. On Sunday: a sports journalist working for al-Baghdadiya TV channel was killed and another sports reporter was wounded when a bomb attached to a car exploded in northern Mosul. A soldier and a civilian were wounded by a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol in eastern Mosul. During the attack, an off-duty traffic policeman was killed when soldiers began firing randomly after the explosion. On Monday (June-1): two policemen were wounded after a mortar round landed on a police station in eastern Mosul. In a central Mosul market, gunmen threw a hand grenade at a US military patrol, killing a child and wounding 15 other bystanders.
In Salah ad Din province, two policemen were killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in Samarra, 60 miles (100 km) north of Baghdad, on Saturday. (Reuters, May 28 – June 3) |
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Other/Comments |
Ninawa province complied with a Ministry of Interior directive that requires all currently employed Iraqi Police to be formally trained by June 2009 after 1,000 Iraqi Police graduated from the Mosul Public Service Academy on May 11. All the officers were hired last year and will continue to serve at the police stations where they were previously posted. (USDOS, May-27) |
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Central/West Regions
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Anbar, Diyala, Karbala, Babil, Wasit, Najaf, Qadissiya |
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Coordination |
As a step to operating independently of Coalition Forces under the US-Iraqi Security Agreement, in February, the Multi-National Force-West (MNF-W) transferred responsibility of two observation posts and a patrol base in Anbar province to Iraqi security forces. The MNF-W also closed two other observation posts and a patrol base. (USDOS, Mar-4) |
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Population |
Population of Anbar: 1,485,985 Population of Diyala: 1,560,621 Population of Karbala: 887,858 Population of Babil: 1,651,565 Population of Wasit: 1,064,950 Population of Najaf: 1,081,203 Population of Qadissiya: 990,483 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Province/Governorate
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, IOM, June 2008) |
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
In Babil province, an anti-cholera initiative has been implemented to prevent future outbreaks of the disease that affected the area significantly in 2008. Already 13 out of 14 new water tanks have been installed. Also, several solar- powered water purification units were bought as well as water tanker trucks in order to transport clean water to remote villages. (USDOS, Apr-8) |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
Iraqi agricultural specialists from Anbar province recently returned from a trip to California where they visited California State University at Fresno to learn new irrigation techniques, high saline soil farming and integration with the dairy industry. While there, a memorandum of understanding was established with Fresno and Anbar University to build a working relationship between the two educational centers. (USDOS, Apr-29) |
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Water & Sanitation |
On March 4, local residents, contractors, Iraqi police and US soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment and the 110th Military Police Company gathered in the city of Diwaniya for the opening ceremony of the new police headquarters in Qada district. Iraqi contractors and workers built the facility with coordination through the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Iraqi government. Army 1st Lt. David Faulkner says the central location provides the station with better command, control and coordination of the collective police force in the district. (American Forces Press Service, Mar-11) |
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Security |
In Anbar province, the US military identified one of its staff killed alongside two US government employees in a roadside bomb blast in Falluja, 32 miles (50 km) west of Baghdad, on Thursday (May-28). The man was a US Navy commander in charge of the US Army Corps of Engineers in the western province. In Diyala province, a leader of a state-backed anti-insurgent militia was arrested from his home in Baquba, 40 miles (65 km) northeast of Baghdad, by Iraqi forces on Thursday. Six civilians were killed when a bomb fixed to a minibus exploded in Khalis, 50 miles (80 km) north of Baghdad, on Friday (May-29). In a separate incident, another bomb attached to a car exploded, killing one person and wounding three others in Khalis on Friday. The leader of a state-backed anti-insurgent militia was killed and three other militia men were wounded when a bomb planted on a motorbike exploded in northeastern Baquba. Two other civilians were wounded in the incident on Friday. Before a suicide car bomber managed to detonate himself at a police checkpoint in Jalawala, 70 miles (115 km) northeast of Baghdad, police shot and killed him on Monday (June-1). The car still detonated and killed one civilian and wounded six, including two policemen. In Karbala province, an Iraqi official of Kuwaiti firm Zain, which has operations in Iraq, and four members of his family were arrested by Iraqi forces on Thursday. In Babil province, a roadside bomb hit a car, killing the driver and wounding three others near a police station in Haswa, 30 miles (50 km) south of Baghdad, on Saturday (May-30). The same day in the town of Iskandariya, 25 miles (40 km) south of Baghdad, a sticky bomb attached to a truck killed its driver. Two people were wounded when a bomb placed outside a barber shop in Mussayab, 40 miles (60 km) south of Baghdad, exploded on Monday. (Reuters, May 28 – June 3) |
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Other/Comments |
A commercial flight from Kuwait to Najaf and Baghdad departed from Kuwait International Airport on April 6, making it the first Kuwaiti commercial flight in 19 years to arrive in these cities. Previously, the Griffin Air flight was used solely for military purposes. Frequency of flights between the cities is expected to increase from twice a week to daily. Travel to Najaf is on high demand, particularly for religious holidays. (USDOS, Apr-15) |
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Baghdad
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Baghdad |
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Coordination |
No New Information |
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Population |
Population: 7,145,470 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Province/Governorate
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), June 2008)
At the end of 2007, Iraq’s MoDM reported that 9,657 IDP families (some 60,000 people) had returned to Baghdad. The Iraqi Red Crescent stated 46,000 refugees had returned from Syria to Baghdad by the end of December. (IOM, Feb-1) |
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
No New Information |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
No New Information |
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Security |
On Sunday (May-31), a bomb fixed to the car of a TV crew from Iraq’s state-run Iraqiya TV channel wounded two crew technicians and one bystander in Baghdad’s Adhamiya district.
On Monday (June-1), 14 decomposed bodies that had been handcuffed and shot were discovered in a mass grave by the Iraqi army and police in the village of Muradiya, 40 miles (65 km) northeast of Baghdad. The bodies seemed to have been buried 12-18 months ago. In southern Baghdad’s Doura district, a bomb planted in a popular vegetable market exploded, killing four people and wounding 13 others.
On Tuesday (June-2), a US soldier died of his wounds after a roadside bomb struck his patrol in eastern Baghdad.
(Reuters, May 28 – June 3) |
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Water & Sanitation |
After three and a half years, US and Iraqi officials opened a water treatment plant in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum on Wednesday (January-21). The US$65 million plant provides water for 200,000 people, which is only a tenth of the population of the vast slum on Baghdad’s eastern outskirts. (Reuters, Jan-21) |
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Other/Comments |
No New Information |
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South Region
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Basrah |
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Coordination |
British forces officially began withdrawing troops from Iraq’s southern province of Basrah on Tuesday (Mar-31), a move that will be a months-long process ending a role that commenced with the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Last year, Baghdad and London signed a deal agreeing that the last 4,100 British soldiers would leave the country by July 31. About 400 British troops will remain in the country as a residual force to train Iraqi security forces. (BBC, Reuters, Mar-31) |
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Population |
Population of Basrah: 1,912,533 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Province/Governorate
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, June 2008)
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
No New Information |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
An unnamed Iranian firm has been contracted by the Basrah Investment Commission to redevelop parts of Basrah. The US$1.5 billion contract includes the construction of 5,000 new housing units in addition to schools, hospitals, parks, a supermarket and commercial units for up to 2,000 shops. This contract is the largest construction contract given to an Iranian firm since 2003. (USDOS, Feb-25) |
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Water & Sanitation |
The Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basrah had been discharging its raw sewage straight into the Shatt al-Arab River for more than 15 years, but with the assistance of Iraqi officials and coalition forces, a new wastewater treatment plant has officially opened. On April 2, the director of the hospital unveiled the new US$1.9 million wastewater treatment plant that holds 487 beds where about 500 patients are treated daily. According to Taha Mohammed al-Qurashi, chief of Basrah Environmental Directorate, the new treatment facility uses modern technology and is an important step toward a cleaner, healthier community. The US Army Corps of Engineers has finished more than 4,500 projects valued at nearly US$7 billion since 2004. (Govt USA, Apr-9)
A US$750,000 rehabilitation project of southern Basrah’s city’s rainwater, drainage and sewage networks has been completed after only six months. Ali Hanon, an official from Basrah’s reconstruction unit, announced the news, highlighting its funding as part of the 2008 provincial development projects program. (USDOS, Apr-8) |
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Security |
No New Information |
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Other/Comments |
On December-9, Iraq’s independent electoral commission announced that it plans to collect signatures in support of a referendum to transform the province of Basrah into an autonomous region much like Kurdistan in the north of the country. (Reuters, Dec-9) |
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Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Maysan |
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Coordination |
No New Information |
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Population |
Population of Muthanna: 614,997 Population of Dhi Qar: 1,616,226 Population of Maysan (Missan): 824,147 |
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IDP Movement |
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by Province/Governorate
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, June 2008)
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Food |
No New Information |
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Health |
No New Information |
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Non-Food Items –Shelter |
No New Information |
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Water & Sanitation |
No New Information |
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Security |
No New Information |
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Other/Comments |
On April 1, around 500 Iraqis from Dhi Qar and Maysan attended the Jazz Masters concert at the Ziggurat of Ur. The show became a family event with women, who seldom join their spouses on such occasions in this part of Iraq. (USDOS, Apr-15) |
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Neighboring Countries’ Humanitarian Activities/Preparations
Jordan
According to Xinhua news agency, a UN official revealed in 2008, nearly 20,000 displaced Iraqis in Jordan have resettled to third countries. A majority of them, around 6,990, were sent to the US, Imran Riza, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Jordan said, adding that 2009 should expect a greater number of relocations. (Xinhua new agency, December-24)
Iran
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari led an Iraqi delegation to Tehran on May 19 to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Manoucheher Mottaki, to discuss border issues, the water crisis and common security threats. He also met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who said ties were improving and urged quick implementation of bilateral agreements between the countries. Ahmadinejad added that the age of “bullying and arrogant powers” had come to an end. (USDOS, May-20)
On April 23, Iran’s official news agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Iran and Iraq have agreed to build a pipeline that will feed Iraqi crude oil to an Iranian refinery, in addition to establishing five new oil refineries together. The 32-inch pipeline will carry 50 percent of the crude from Iraq’s southern oil hub in Basrah to be processed at Iran’s Abadan refinery, which has a capacity of 430,000 barrels per day. No timeframe has been set for this project. (AP, April-23)
Turkey
Kurdish rebels and the Turkish military extended a unilateral ceasefire by six weeks to try to pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict that has taken 40,000 lives since 1984. The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has been battling the Turkish government for independence for 25 years. The original ceasefire was declared on April 14 and was due to expire on Monday (June-1), however, the PKK may extend the truce even longer to September 1 if it believes the government is making progress on solving the political problem. (Reuters, June-1)
On Thursday (April 30), Turkey’s military said it had launched air strikes against suspected Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq. The operation was prompted after nine Turkish soldiers were killed by a bomb in southeastern Turkey on April 29. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters, April-30)
Kuwait
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shiekh Muhammad al-Sabah met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and other top officials on Thursday (February-26) in the first high-level visit by a Kuwaiti official since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In addition to discussing joint oil fields, maritime borders and war reparations, Shiekh Muhammad praised the Iraqi government for holding peaceful provincial elections. The visit recognized the growing acceptance of Baghdad’s Shi’ite Muslim-led government by Sunni-dominated Gulf Arab states. (Reuters, BBC, February-26)
Syria
Despite strained political ties between neighbors Syria and Iraq, Syria started a freight train service to Iraq, Reuters reported official media as saying on Sunday (May-31). According to Syria’s al-Thawra newspaper, the line, which is 894 miles (1,430 km) long between the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean and Baghdad, was inaugurated on Saturday (May-30) and will begin services this month. The estimated journey time will be at least 72 hours, but will be half the cost of road transport. The neighboring country currently hosts hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and had hoped to become a main transit hub to Iraq. Syria got to play that role for a short time following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. (Reuters, May-31)
Saudi Arabia
On Thursday (May-28), Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraq has no intention of making new goodwill gestures towards Saudi Arabia as Maliki’s efforts have been called a sign of weakness by Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. Bilateral ties between the two countries have been strained since the US-led invasion in 2003 and continue to decline. Al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government accuses Riyadh of not taking enough action to prevent its citizens from crossing the border to join the mainly Sunni insurgency. The Agence France-Presse quoted al-Maliki as saying, “There will be no other initiatives on our part as long as there is no sign from Saudi Arabia that it wants to have good ties with Baghdad.” During an April 25 visit to Baghdad, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her concerns at the tension between the neighboring countries. (AFP, May-28)